US REPORT ON T&T GANGS IGNORED

AN American agency that President Donald Trump is now shutting down produced a report last year on Trinidad and Tobago’s criminal gangs.

The Rowley Government never acted on the findings and recommendations of the report.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned a study that recommended strategic measures to combat gang-related activities.

Then-US Ambassador Candace Bond said the comprehensive report would aid in countering, disrupting and dismantling gangs.

The study was handed over to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds last June and has never been heard of again.

While the report has been discarded, gangs continue to commit heinous crimes in the country.

USAID, with a regional office in Port of Spain, has helped T&T in various ways, including a US $30 million (about TT $200 million) grant.

The funds were to improve food security, the environment, clean energy and other projects.

The agency directed that funds also be used for crime detection, small business, women’s affairs, and climate change.

Bond committed the US to assisting T&T in a wide range of measures.

USAID also signed an agreement with the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce to assist small businesses and other relevant matters.

The agency, with regional headquarters in Barbados, set up a satellite office in Port of Spain in September 2022.

The launch of the office was celebrated by officials of the T&T and US governments.

Foreign Affairs Minister Amery Browne said: “Not only will Trinidad and Tobago benefit from a more formidable presence of the USAID, so, too, will also our neighbours in the Caribbean.”

A US official said the agency is committed to promoting “a safe, prosperous and resilient Caribbean region…”

But, in a sweeping move, Trump closed USAID and is sending home some 10,000 workers in the US and about 100 other countries, including T&T.

The president said the agency is wasting American money.

The workers in T&T and other countries will be paid within 30 days, the authorities said.

Trump took that action even though USAID spends only 0.6 per cent of American federal funds.

The T&T Government has attempted to play down the impact of the closure of the operations, with Browne urging the public to remain calm.

“There is no reason to panic,” he stated.

He said the matter will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of Caricom leaders in Barbados.

But the closure of the funding agency is sure to affect T&T and other Caribbean countries, which have benefited significantly from the agency on a variety of matters.

USAID’s shutdown has led to alarm in Africa, where the agency funds AIDS and other humanitarian programmes.

Officials on the continent are warning that lives will be lost.

Bond, who heralded the agency’s activities in T&T, has been recalled from the ambassadorial post, as have other political diplomatic appointees.

She was given a national award before leaving the country.

USAID’s study on local gangs is gathering dust, even as the crime spree continues and criminals are more armed and dangerous.